Resilient seal for floating roofs



1 1940- c. H. HAUPT ET AL RESILIENT SEAL FOR FLOATING ROOFS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. .21, 1937 aVV//////////////////// Feb. 13,1940. c. H. HAUPT ET AL 2,190,476

RESILIENT SEAL FOR FLOATING ROOFS Filed Jan. 21, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Feb. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Charles H. Haupt,Elizabeth, and Earle W. Hall, Westfield, N. J., assignors to StandardOil Development Company,

Application January 21,

a corporation of Delaware 1937, Serial No. 121,452

8 Claims. (01. 220-26) This invention relates to improvements in sealsfor floating roofs or decks, especially those designed for use inconnection with storage tanks for volatile petroleum oils. A particularobject 5 of the invention is to provide against sagging of the seal evenafter long continued use.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide a seal resilientlysupported by integral or supplemental means in such manner as to suslotain the seal without damage or undue wear caused by unyielding contactwith tank wall.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the followingdescription read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

16 which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse section through an elementary form ofthe seal.

Fig. 2 is a similar view through another form of the seal showingsupplemental supporting m means therefor,

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through a form of the seal, inwhich an additional means of supplemental support is illustrated,

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing a portion of the tank in which the seal isinstalled.

Referring to Fig. 1, reference numeral I indicates the wall of the tank,2 the enlargement of the floating roof and 3 the flexible sealing memberwhich may be of any suitable material such as rubber, leather,rubberized fabric or the like. The seal has a substantially pear-shapedcross-section and may be formed of a substantially flat sheet, the edgesof which are brought together throughout the length of the seal and atspaced intervals secured by clamps 4 and wedges 5 to the margin-of thefloating roof. Angle members 8 and 6', substantially annular in shape,are provided as bearing surfaces between the seal and the clamps. Ifdesired, a tubular sealing member may be substituted for the flat sheetfolded as shown, in which case one side of the tubular member will becompressed by means of the clamp 4 and the bearing members 6 and 8 so asto impart to said tubular member a conformation substantially equivalentto that secured by the use of the folded flat sheet. In either instance,one or both of those portions of the side walls adjoining the roof edgemay be thickened to provide an integrally formed support for the seal.In Fig. 1 is shown a seal having both upper and lower portionsthickened, as indicated by the numeral 1.

In older to prevent lateral movement of the tank roof as a result ofwhichthe seal would be crushed against one portion or another of thetank, means are provided to maintain the roof in a substantiallyconcentric relationship to the tank walls and to some extent alsoprovide against rotation of the roof within the tank. Various means foraccomplishing these 5 ends may be adopted but, as illustrated, aplurality of channelled guideways 8 are disposed vertically about thetank walls and a corresponding number of guide members are provided onthe roof consisting, in this instance, of arms 9 10 secured to the roofsupporting rollers It) in such manner that the rollers extend beyond theroof into the guideways 8 provided on the tank wall 1.

Referring to Fig. 2, another form of the seal is shown in whichresilient metal strips H are embedded in spaced relation to each otherin those portions of the sealingmember adjacent the roof edge, in suchmanner that the inner ends of the strips II will lie within thoseportions of the sealing member engaged by the go clamping meansdescribed in connection with Fig. 1 and the outer ends will terminatewithin the material of the sealing member in spaced relation to the tankwall I when the seal operatively engages said wall.

As shown in this figure. the sealing member is formed with thickenedportions 1, within which the metallic strips II are disposed for asubstantial portion of theirlength. In such instance the strips llsupplement the supporting function of the thickened portions 1 but, ifoperating conditions are such that such additional support is notnecessary, the sealing member may be formed without the thickenedportions 1 and the principal support for the seal derived by the actionof the metallic strips ll alone.

If it is desired, the sealing member 3, having thickened portions 1, mayderive additional support in the general manner shown by the copendingapplication of Charles H. Haupt and o Earle W. Hall, Serial No. 625,884,filed July 29, 1932.

In Fig. 3 is illustrated a combination in which the sealing member 3.having thickened portions 1, secures supplemental support againstsagging 5 by means of resilient metallic strips l6 spaced from eachother, disposed with their inner ends between the ends of the sheetforming the sealing member and secured by means of the clamping members4, 5, 6 and 6' and with the outer w ends, formed substantially as shown,extending into the bulb-like chamber formed within the seal.

In Fig. 4 a more complete understanding of the relationship of the partsdescribed in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3 may be obtained. In thisfigure is shown the tank wall I, the guideways 8, the sealing member 3,the clamping members 4 and 5, the guide arms 9, the rollers l0 supportedthereby and the metallic strips II. In addition, there is shown by thisfigure the manner in which, when the tank roof is of such size as toprevent the use of a continuous sealing member, the seal may be formedof sections as 12 and I3 joined as at M by the insertion of a loop [5 ofsomewhat smaller size, Within the adjacent ends of the sections, theedges of the inserted member, as well as the edges of the loop sections,being brought together on the roof edge and secured by means of theclamping members, as previously described. The joint thus formed may bemade air-tight, if desired, by uniting the material of the sections tothe material of the insert. Fig. 4 also shows the manner in which theseal is made to encompass the protruding portions of the guideways 8 bymeans of slots ll cut in the material of the seal, as required.

We are aware that various forms of sectional sealing tubes or loops andnumerous kinds of spring supports have been proposed by the prior art.So far as we are aware, however, all have had for their purpose theforcing of the seal against the wall of the tank by pressure directlytransmitted from the supporting means through the fabric to the wall. Asdistinguished from this, the support provided for the present seal isdisposed in spaced relation to the tank wall and provides freedom ofmovement for that portion of the seal which engages the surface of thesaid wall.

Various changes and alternative arrangements may be made within thescope of the appended claims, in which it is our intention to claim allnovelty inherent in the invention as broadly as the prior art permits.

We claim:

1. A sealing member for forming a substantially fluid tight seal in thespace between the tank wall and a floating roof for the tank, comprisinga substantially self-supporting annular loop of flexible resilientmaterial and integralwith said material,supplemental supporting meansdisposed in spaced relation to the tank wall by not less than thethickness of the flexible, resilient loop-material normally engaging thewall surface.

2. In combination with the floating roof of a tank, a seal comprising aflexible member closing the space between the roof and the tank, and aplurality of resilient metallic member adapted to support said flexiblemember in certain positions thereof, imbedded in the flexible member atspaced intervals from each other, with their inner ends secured, withthe flexible member, to the roof of the tank, and their outer endsextending toward but spaced from the wall of the tank by not less thanthe thickness of that portion of the material of the flexible membernormally engaging the tank wall surface.

3. A sealing member for forming a seal in the space between a tank walland a floating roof, including a sealing member formed of flexiblematerial protruding radially outwardly from the roof, and resilientstrips embedded in the sealing member protruding radially outwardly atspaced intervals from the roof and terminating in spaced relation to thefree end of the sealing member whereby the sealing member is yieldinglysupported by the resilient strips in substantially radial position whenthe sealing member is sliding over irregularities on the wall surface.

4. A sealing member for forming a seal in the space between a tank walland a floating roof, including a tubular sealing member formed offlexible material protruding radially outwardly from the roof, andresilient strips embedded in the tubular sealing member protrudingradially outwardly at spaced intervals from the roof and terminating inspaced relation to the free end of the tubular sealing member wherebythe sealing member is yieldingly supported by the resilient strips insubstantially radial position when the sealing member is sliding overirregularities on the wall surface.

5. A sealing member for forming a seal in the space between a tank walland a floating roof, including a substantially annular clamping membersupported on said roof, a sealing member formed on a strip of flexiblematerial bent into bulb-like cross sectional shape and having its edgeportions clamped against each other by said clamping member to cause thefree end of the bulbous portion of said sealing member to engage saidtank wall, and resilient strips embedded in the flexible materialprotruding radially outwardly at spaced intervals from said clampingmember and terminating in spaced relation to the free end of the bulbousportion whereby the sealing member is yieldingly supported by theresilient strips in substantially radial position when the loop issliding over irregularities on the wall surface.

6. A sealing member for forming a seal in the space between a tank walland a floating roof, including a tubular sealing member formed offlexible material protruding radially outwardly from the roof, and aplurality of pairsof resilient strips, the strips of each pair beingembedded in the opposite walls of the tubular sealing member, the pairsof strips protruding radially outwardly from the roof at spacedintervals from the roof and terminating in spaced relation to the freeend of the tubular sealing member whereby the sealing member isyieldingly supported by the resilient strips in substantially radialposition when the sealing member is sliding over irregularities on thewall surface.

7. A sealing member'for forming a seal in the space between a tank walland a floating roof,

including a tubular sealing member formed of flexible materialprotruding radially outwardly from the roof, the portion only of theflexible material adjoining the roof being thickened, and resilientstrips embedded in the thickened portion of the sealing memberprotruding radially outwardly at spaced intervals from the roof andterminating in spaced relation to the free end of the sealing memberwhereby the sealing member is yieldingly supported by the resilientstrips and by the thickened portion in substantially radial positionwhen the sealing member is sliding over irregularities on the wallsurface.

8. A sealing member for forming a seal in the space between a tank walland a floating roof, including a tubular sealing member formed offlexible material protruding radially outwardly from the roof, theportion only of the flexible material adjoining the roof beingthickened, and a plurality of pairs of resilient strips, the strips ofeach pair being embedded in opposite thickened portions of the sealingmember, the pairs of resilient strips protruding radially outwardly atspaced intervals from the roof and terminating in spaced relation to thefree end of the sealing member whereby the sealin member is yieldinglysupported by the resilient strips and by the thickened portions insubstantially radial position when the sealing member is sliding overirregularities on the wall surface.

9. A sealing member for forming a seal in the space between a tank walland a floating roof, including a tubular sealing member formed offlexible material protruding radially outwardly from the roof wherebythe upper and lower walls of the tubular sealing member are secured tothe I roof, only the lower wall of the sealing member being thickened,and resilient strips embedded in the walls of the sealing memberprotruding radially outwardly at spaced intervals from the roof andterminating in spaced relation to the free end of the tubular memberwhereby the sealing member is yieldingly supported by the resilientstrips and by the thickened portion in substantially radial positionwhen the sealing member is sliding over irregularities on the wallsurface.

CHARLES H. HAUPT.

EARL-E W. HALL.

